Ch. 971..980
Chapter 971 — Last Millennium
Shang hovered silently in the middle of his Isolation Barrier.
By now, he no longer needed to look at Abominations.
Shang had learned enough about how the minds of Abominations worked, and he had already replaced 50% of his mind with Entropy.
The disgust for Mana had returned, but Shang wasn't pushed so far that he wanted to destroy the world.
Right now, Shang just felt like he was being surrounded by an ocean of shit. Sure, it was disgusting, but as long as it didn't touch him too much, it should be fine.
Shang also summoned a True Path Stage Abomination from time to time and turned it into pure Mana and Entropy before storing everything in his inner world.
After comprehending a lot about Space, Time, Gravity, Mana, and Entropy, Shang had managed to change his inner world a bit, allowing him to actually store Mana and Entropy in there.
However, he had to be careful that the Mana and Entropy were stored separately, or they would explode and injure Shang.
All of the God's mystical and magical gifts had started to make sense to Shang.
Shang knew roughly what a Companion Weapon needed to be made, and he also knew a bit about how to create this inner world.
If Shang were to focus on the relevant Concepts for a couple more millennia, he might even be able to recreate these things himself.
At this moment, Shang no longer needed his inner world in its traditional form.
If he wanted to store something, he could just create a small pocket dimension with his Space Concepts.
Space Rings were things that people below the Mage Lord Realm needed. As soon as someone reached the Mage Lord, they were about to gain at least some experience in the Space Concepts.
He also didn't need to fight inside his inner world anymore since there were no more enemies he could summon inside of it.
So, what was the point?
Because of that, Shang decided to alter it.
Naturally, he still didn't know how to create something like this, but he knew enough to change how it functioned.
The biggest problem was that the connection between the inner world and Aterium was very small.
One shouldn't forget that Shang had never gone in there with his real body. Whenever he had entered, his real body remained in the true world.
Earlier, the inner world had been almost transparent. Mana could enter without issues, but it also couldn't be contained.
By changing that, Shang had to solidify the walls of his inner world, and he had also needed to widen the entrance for the Mana and Entropy.
Sadly, due to several complications, Shang couldn't use the separate Entropy and Mana storage to instantaneously refill his Mana and Entropy storage inside of himself.
At most, the Mana and Entropy could release fast enough to simulate the atmospheric pressure of Aterium. However, this still gave Shang a unique ability.
He could survive in a Mana vacuum as long as his storage hadn't been emptied.
And he had done all of this for only one purpose.
He didn't want to be surrounded by Mana.
Instead of having to inhale pure shit, which was Mana, Shang could inhale 50% shit and 50% of the good stuff, Entropy.
He had also created a small layer of his Domain to keep all the Mana away from him.
During all of this, Shang kept focusing on his own soul and mind.
By now, a thousand years had passed since the end of the Grand Tournament.I think you should take a look at
One of the Thunders had already become a Mage King, but Cynthia was still waiting.
At the moment, Cynthia was barely 15,000 years old. She still had 10,000 years of comprehension remaining, in which she should be able to comprehend a level six Concept.
As always, the war was very subdued and uneventful.
The entire world was waiting.
They were waiting for Shang to die.
The Emperors weren't talking.
The Mage Kings weren't planning an assault.
The Mage Lords didn't attack.
Everyone was silently waiting.
The entire world was silently waiting for Shang to vanish.
Naturally, the requests to check through all the major Mana resources of all the Empires had become more and more numerous.
Checking through all the major Mana resources just meant that a delegation comprised of one Mage King from every Empire would travel through all the Empires, checking how many Mage Kings, Beast Kings, Mage Lords, and Beast Lords the Empires had.
Such a check barely took a day, and it happened every 50 years.
Naturally, a couple of missing Mage Lords or Beast Lords were not an issue. People died, and new people came to power.
The checks were only there to see if a significant number of Mage Lords or Beast Lords had vanished.
After all, it would need a significant price of Mana to create another Mage King...
Or Sword King, in this case.
Naturally, there were no issues with the Mana, but that didn't calm the nerves of the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors.
All of them knew that the Lightning Emperor had put all of his cards on Shang.
They refused to believe that the Lightning Emperor would just let him die.
Just 1,000 more years.
Shang was already around 24,000 years old.
Shang's last millennium of longevity had arrived.
However, compared to the previous two times, Shang wasn't actually that worried.
For some reason, his longevity didn't feel that important anymore.
Nevertheless, the truth of the matter was that Shang's longevity would soon end, and his original plan of learning a level six Concept and the final Destination of the Warrior Path at the Sword Lord Realm seemed harder to achieve than ever before.
But Shang just continued.
Shang just kept looking at his mind, soul,
and even his body.
If necessary, he could advance to the Sword King Realm like this, but it would only give him a basic sixfold Spirit Sense, essentially reducing the level of his being by one.
That would make him inferior to King Sanctified Death, and he wasn't the biggest fan of that situation.
Chapter 972 — I Will Kill You
Shang continued looking at himself and analyzing.
A hundred years passed.
Making progress had become very difficult by now.
Shang felt like he had already reached the threshold of the very thing he wanted to comprehend.
The level six Concept of Entropy.
Another century passed.
Shang barely made any progress.
Another century passed.
The progress became even slower.
400 years passed.
And now, progress had completely halted.
Shang felt like he completely understood his mind, soul, and body.
He felt like he could reshape it in a certain way.
However, that feeling also felt surreal.
It was like something was missing. Something crucial.
Surprisingly, that feeling felt real for Shang's body.
If he wanted to create some legs, he could, but they wouldn't be very useful.
It wouldn't be much different from the fake arm the Lightning Emperor had given Shang in the past.
While adding to the body wasn't difficult, adding to the soul was tremendously difficult, and since the soul dictated the body, as long as the new legs weren't present in the soul, they were not any better than prosthetics.
The issue was Shang's soul, as always.
Nevertheless, the feeling for his body was true, which showed that Shang had reached his goal for his body, at least.
He was only missing his soul.
And he knew that he was only missing the tiny last bit.
So, Shang continued looking at his soul.
A century passed.
No progress.
Another century passed.
No progress.
Shang's last century had arrived.
He was now 24,900 years old.
In one century, he would enter the state of purgatory again, and Shang knew better than anyone else how debilitating and terrifying the state of purgatory was.
And yet, Shang kept looking at his mind. 90 years later, he was still watching.
He only had ten years left.
Another 9 years passed.
He only had a single year left.
No progress.
No matter how much Shang tried, it was impossible to find a way to change his soul any further.
His soul was his soul, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't add to it.
Eventually, the last year passed as well.
It was time.
Shang's longevity had run out.
And yet, there was something different about him.
Back in the Fusion Realm, when Shang had entered the state of purgatory, he had already looked like a sick and decrepit old man.
But right now, Shang still looked young. Additionally, Shang also didn't feel any weakness due to age.
And then, the state of purgatory actually arrived.
Shang's perception felt uncontrollable Death Mana being produced inside of his body.
Even with the Concept of Exodus, Shang couldn't control this Death Mana at all.
On top of that, the Death Mana appeared out of nowhere.
It was like it just randomly appeared inside his body without rhyme or reason.
The Death Mana slowly attacked Shang's body, turning the Mana inside his body into nothingness.
This resulted in Shang's body becoming unstable.
Shang had to disperse a bit of Entropy from his body, or it would accumulate until it would turn into Destruction and kill him.
This was death.
It was unavoidable.I think you should take a look at
The uncontrollable Death Mana simply consumed the body until there was nothing left.
Additionally, the Death Mana also appeared inside Shang's soul.
Just like with his body, the Death Mana started to slowly consume Shang's soul, which resulted in parts of Shang's body dying off.
At that moment, Shang began to age.
While his being had shown some resistance to death, even his unique body was helpless when it actually arrived.
However, for some reason, Shang was still calm.
He felt like this wasn't a big deal.
But he didn't actually know why.
He was dying, right?
So, why wasn't he caring that he was dying?
Shang wasn't certain.
Was this because of his messed up instincts for danger again?
It didn't seem like it.
Nevertheless, Shang was dying, and he knew that he was dying.
There was actually nothing he could do about it.
There was no solution to the problem.
And yet, he wasn't afraid.
In fact, he didn't even feel like he was dying.
'Do I not care for my life anymore? Is it because my mindset has become similar to the Abominations?'
'Do Abominations actually care for their life?'
'Do Abominations actually die from old age?'
'I'm honestly not sure. The way the Death Mana is just appearing inside my body and soul seems deliberate.'
'I am not dying because my body is failing but because I am essentially getting poisoned by uncontrollable Death Mana.'
'This is not naturally dying.'
'This is killing.'
'It is an attack, and after thinking about it for a bit, I'm also quite sure that I know who created this attack.'
'The God.'
'He probably doesn't want to see people live forever when they can still become more powerful, which is why he created the maximum limit of longevity.'
'Starting at the True Path Stage, the soul, and body are actually already fully self-sustaining. If nothing interferes with the process, it shouldn't stop.'
'In a way, True Path Stage warriors and High Mages are already immortal.'
'Death due to old age is just the God not wanting someone to survive.'
'And you want to kill me now as well, huh?'
'You pulled an unimportant soul from Earth, gave me my name, gave me my body, and put me in Aterium for your amusement.'
'From the very beginning, I was nothing but your toy.'
Shang's right hand clenched, blood flowing out of his aged skin.
'And now, you want to kill me.'
'You are probably reading my mind right now with a smirk.'
'Maybe you just want to see me die after trying so hard for so long.'
'Or maybe, you already have something planned.'
Shang's head pointed up at the sky.
'But you know what will happen.'
'You know that I already have a resolution.' I just didn't want to do it.'
'But maybe I was always destined to walk this path.'
'Back in the first trial, when I realized what my Affinity was, I knew that I represented the antithesis of existence.'
'I never wanted to accept my destiny.'
'When I fought Mervin, I wept for the future I have chosen.'
'And yet, I didn't know the true path my future would take.'
'You win.'
'I am no longer running from my destiny.'
'I will become what you wanted me to become.'
'And then...'
Suddenly, the bloodied white cloth surrounding Shang's body started to fall.
The body beneath the cloth had vanished.
'I will kill you.'
Chapter 973 - Silver Wall
The cloth fell towards the Eternal Ocean below.
The powerful storms above the Eternal Ocean just barely managed to move it before it touched the water.
The cloth sunk into the ocean, entering the eternal depths beneath it.
It vanished.
The skies above the Eternal Ocean were not different from normal.
And yet, there was one tiny thing.
A small marble was hovering in the sky. It was so small that it had passed through the gaps in the white cloth.
And inside that small marble were two sides.
One was white.
The other was black.
The two sides existed in harmony.
The white side didn't attack the black side, and the black side didn't attack the white side.
WHOOOOM!
Suddenly, a gigantic black beast appeared. It was an Abomination Lord!
Yet, as soon as the Abomination Lord appeared, it was torn into black and white specks, which rapidly fell into the tiny marble.
WHOOOOOM!
At that moment, everything changed.
The skies above the Eternal Ocean seemed to break apart and turn into white specks, which all fell into the tiny marble.
The water of the Eternal Ocean began to rise and spin. As the water continued to rise, it also started to turn whiter and whiter until it entered the marble as well.
The phenomenon became bigger and bigger.
100,000 kilometers.
500,000 kilometers.
1,000,000 kilometers.
CRK!
Suddenly, something cracked.
BANG!
The Isolation Barrier broke apart, turned into Mana, and entered the marble as well!
At the edges of the continent, some people noticed the water becoming unruly and wild.
In the Eternal Ocean, the sky was shaking.
The water was breaking and vanishing.
Space was being destroyed.
Everything entered the tiny marble.
"You are consuming too much Mana!"
Suddenly, the voice of the Lightning Emperor echoed throughout the surroundings of the marble.
"If you are still in there, Shang, you need to do something, or the others will notice what is happening!"
Everything around the marble continued to break apart.
Gregorio looked with worry at the breaking world.
BOOOM!
Suddenly, everything began to move further upward.
The marble was rapidly flying higher and higher into the sky!
Some seconds later, the water of the Eternal Ocean stopped breaking apart and moving upward, and then, even the skies around the Eternal Ocean calmed down.
The world returned to normal.
Gregorio just looked with worry at the sky.
He hoped that Shang was still there.
High above the sky, the surroundings became colder and colder.
Some minutes later, the blue of the sky vanished, replaced by silver.I think you should take a look at
There was no outer space in Aterium.
As long as someone continued traveling in one direction, they would reach the edge of Aterium at some point.
The silver wall.
In truth, there was also no real sun in Aterium.
The air in the sky just moved in such a way that a hole was created in the atmosphere, which traveled across the entire barrier.
The silver wall was slightly visible through that hole, which brought light.
The sun was simply the silver wall peeking through the atmosphere.
The silver wall gave off some heat, but not a lot. In truth, the skies above Aterium just became colder and colder unless one directly stood in front of the silver wall, at which point it became a bit hotter again.
The actual heat of the world came from the bottom.
As the marble continued flying upward, ice was forming around it.
The cold was terrifyingly powerful at that height.
And yet, as soon as the ice formed, it broke into white specks and was absorbed by the marble.
SHING!
Suddenly, a Peak Abomination Lord appeared.
The Abomination Lord was immediately split into black and white, but surprisingly, the white portion of its existence fell down, exploded, and dispersed across the entire world.
Meanwhile, the black portion entered the marble.
Right now, the white portion of the marble had become bigger than the black portion, but not by much.
With the infusion of more black, the balance had returned.
The further the marble traveled, the more intense and bigger the destruction around it became.
By now, the marble was destroying everything in a radius of three million kilometers!
Luckily, due to the insane altitude of the marble, no one noticed it in Aterium.
This was an unprecedented event!
Not even King Sanctified Death had created such an event!
Gregorio knew what was happening, but he was confused and concerned.
Gregorio knew that Shang's longevity had run out, which meant that he needed to break into the Sword King Realm now!
Yet, this was not a breakthrough.
No, this was a transformation!
Shang had just consumed the momentum of a level six Concept, and the world was elevating his mind to the next level.
The space around the marble exploded and was absorbed, but the marble just kept on rising.
Spacetime in these parts was supposed to be warped, but the destructive forces of the marble made them the same as everywhere else, senseless and destroyed.
Eventually, the marble couldn't go higher anymore.
Right above it was a silver wall.
The marble had reached the end of Aterium.
Then, the marble shot toward the southeast at unreal speeds.
And some minutes later, something odd happened.
The destructive effects of the marble stopped at a certain point in the sky.
High above the Judgment Palace, a beast was clinging to the silver wall.
The beast was over 2,000 kilometers long, fully white, and had seven legs that ended in suction cups. It had no eyes but a long and curved beak. Its body seemed thin and malnourished, but that was far from true.
This was the Spacetime Beast.
An Early Beast King.
As the destruction around the Spacetime Beast became more and more intense, it started to move around.
Its perception stretched until it found the source of the destruction.
A tiny marble.
The Spacetime Beast had never been disturbed by anything, but it hadn't forgotten that there were many powerful beasts in the world.
A moment later, a concentrated sphere of Space, Time, and Gravity gathered in its opened beak, destroying even more of the surroundings.
It wouldn't go down without a fight!
Chapter 974 — Destiny
The marble came closer and closer.
BOOOOOM!
The Spacetime Beast unleashed the compressed sphere into a terrifying beam.
The speed of the beam was as fast as the faster Spells Shang had seen in the Grand Tournament.
But before the beam could hit the marble, everything in front of it turned black.
It was like the entire world in front of the Spacetime Beast had been replaced with a black wall.
BOOOOM!
The beam hit the black wall and dispersed without slowing the black wall by a lot.
At that moment, the Spacetime Beast was able to actually see what the black wall was with its Spirit Sense.
It was a beastly hand!
It was a humongous hand, over 20,000 kilometers wide!
The hand was covered in black scales, and it had five terrifying claws at the end of it.
The Spacetime Beast wanted to retreat, but before it could, the claw reached it.
CRKSH!
The claw crushed the Spacetime Beast in its grip and pulled back.
All of this happened so quickly that no one had noticed it.
Mage Lords and Mage Kings that were looking at the sky by sheer coincidence felt like they had just blinked without taking note of it.
For just a tiny moment, a huge black claw had appeared in front of the sun.
The entire Spacetime Beast was violently pulled into the tiny marble.
Instantaneously, the white portion of the marble expanded, suppressing the black portion.
SHING!
And then, a humongous black beast appeared.
An Abomination King!
The Abomination King was surrounded by Mana, but its entire perception was focused on the marble.
Its eyes were widened with fervent fanaticism, and an instant later, it split into white and black energy.
The white energy fell downward, expanding and dispersing across the world.
The black energy entered the marble, increasing the black side.
Yet, the white side was still superior.
SHING!
Another Abomination King appeared, and the same thing happened again.
Now, the marble was in balance again.
And yet, another two Abomination Kings appeared!
Their Mana was dispersed across the world, while their Entropy was consumed by the marble.
The black portion of the marble became even bigger, and the marble started to warp.
By now, the world around the marble was no longer being destroyed.
It seemed like the marble no longer needed any more Mana.
SHING!
Another Abomination King appeared, its Mana dispersing across the world and its Entropy being absorbed by the marble.
By now, the marble was shaking violently, and several cracks appeared on its surface.
Around 60% of the marble was filled with black, while 40% were filled with white.
A moment later, condensed white Mana came out of the marble, which fell towards the world and dispersed.
The black portion of the marble increased.
Eventually, the black portion took up exactly 70% of the marble.
The next moment, three Abomination Lords appeared, and they were fully absorbed by the marble, including the Mana.
The marble began to shake and crack again.
Slowly, black and white energy came out of the marble, but this time, they didn't disperse.
Instead, they encompassed it and became solid.
After some minutes, a head appeared.
It was Shang's head.
In an instant, the Death Mana appeared inside the head again.
CRKSH!
But whenever it did, the Entropy inside Shang's body lashed out, destroying the Death Mana.I think you should take a look at
The Entropy had undergone an even closer fusion with the Mana.
The Entropy and Mana were one thing, but they could also act separately from another.
The Entropy was protecting the Mana from Entropy, and the Mana was protecting Entropy from Mana.
It was a stable fusion.
It was like Entropy Ore.
And yet, the Mana could leave the Entropy, and the Entropy could leave the Mana.
No matter what the Death Mana did, the Entropy just dispersed it without being dispersed itself.
It didn't matter how many pebbles one threw at a steel wall. The steel wall wouldn't get weaker.
The marble was in the middle of Shang's brain, and it contained all of Shang's soul.
The marble was the inner world that the God had given Shang, but Shang had repurposed it.
The marble was the spot that Shang had chosen for his soul.
Of course, the Death Mana also appeared inside the marble, but it didn't matter.
Just like Shang's body, Shang's soul was now also made of 70% Entropy and 30% Mana.
This was what Shang had meant.
This was his destiny.
Shang was destined to become an Abomination.
He was the Child of Calamity.
And if he wanted true power, he needed to become an Abomination.
The Abominations were far superior to humans and beasts.
They had so many abilities that were simply at a higher base level than anything humanity could create.
They were beings of a higher level.
Shang had advanced.
He had elevated.
He had risen.
The weakness of beast flesh was no longer a constraint.
The fragility of a human soul no longer mattered.
Natural death didn't exist anymore.
Longevity didn't matter anymore.
Shang was still a Peak Sword Lord that was over 25,000 years old.
The Death Mana that was supposed to end his life still appeared.
But it didn't matter.
Abominations didn't die natural deaths.
Abominations only died to Mana.
Slowly, the white and black energy created a neck before creating a muscular torso.
Then, it shot out of the right side of the torso, creating a right arm.
A moment later, the black and white energy appeared at the bottom of the torso.
Suddenly, the majority of the white energy vanished, leaving far more black energy. There was only a little bit of white energy visible now.
The black energy and the bit of white energy stretched down, forming legs.
Yet, these legs were not human legs.
These were the legs of an Abomination.
They looked almost identical to velociraptor legs, ending in terrifying black claws and being covered in black scales.
Next, the black energy gathered at the left side of the torso, creating the arm of an Abomination.
The arm was long, covered in black scales, and ended in five fingers with terrifying claws at their tips.
Then, Shang's eyelids quivered.
And they slowly opened.
Black eyes.
In a way, it was almost like the eye sockets were empty or filled with emptiness.
There was only a long and thin white pupil in the middle.
The pupils inside the eye looked around, perceiving the world for the first time.
And then, they looked down at the world.
Shang's expression turned into a disgusted sneer.
"This world is worthless."
Chapter 975 — Red
Shang looked away from Aterium and inspected his new body.
For the first time in forever, he could actually perceive the world with his eyes. He could see.
And yet, the only thing he could see was the disgusting display of Mana.
Mana was everywhere!
Shang immediately activated his Domain of Entropy to isolate himself from the horrendous stench of Mana.
Shang lifted his left and right arms to look at them.
His right arm was as normal as it had always been, but his left arm was identical to an Abomination's arm. It was far thicker and more muscular than his right arm, and Shang could also feel the incredible power of his left arm.
Even though his arm looked identical to the arm of an Abomination, Shang had still incorporated all the things he needed to use his techniques.
For example, he could use Void Break and Sword Focus with his left arm as well.
And yet, his left arm was just as powerful as the arm of a Peak Abomination Lord without using any of these techniques.
His other arm was over a level weaker.
"Weakness," Shang spoke in disgust.
A moment later, a small part of Shang's new soul transformed, changing shape.
Shang's right arm began to die and fell off just a couple seconds later.
An instant later, a new arm grew at this spot, but it was the arm of an Abomination.
Shang clenched his new fist and felt the pure power coming from it with satisfaction.
When Shang saw that, his mouth widened into a toothy smirk.
"Finally," he said slowly. "I am at the edge of achieving my goal."
"By converting my mind to 70% Entropy and 30% Mana, I finally managed to comprehend the level six Concept of Entropy, Entropy itself."
"I should have known that comprehending Entropy without becoming an Abomination was impossible."
"For my entire life, my goal was to become the most powerful, and that would have never been possible without becoming an Abomination myself."
Shang swung his arm to the side, the world around him shaking from its power.
"The pain is gone," he spoke as he felt the absence of disturbing factors.
"My soul has healed. No, it has advanced."
"The paranoia of my fixed warrior body no longer exists. I have created this body, and I have created it without fault."
"I no longer feel like I am about to die. In fact, the opposite is true."
A malicious grin spread across Shang's face.
"I am far more powerful than I have ever been."
Shang silently reveled in his power as he used his newfound arm to comb once through his hair.
As he did so, some small bits of skin fell from his cheeks.
Shang's grin vanished as he took note of the tiny crack that had appeared on his skin.
His eyes narrowed.
"My old human body can't contain the power of the Abominations and is falling apart," he said.
Shang's left claw slowly moved to his cheek, and one of his fingers brushed over it.
The crack was gone.
This was Shang's body, and he could repair it without any issues.
"For now, I need to keep my old head and torso. Arms and legs can be hidden easily, but the shape of a torso and a head is difficult to hide."
Then, Shang's smirk returned.
"Although, it's not that difficult."
Suddenly, all of Shang's limbs retracted into his torso, and his eyes vanished.I think you should take a look at
A moment later, a human right arm shot out from the torso.
Shang looked just as usual again.
No legs, no eyes, only one arm.
However, Shang's new body didn't just vanish.
Shang had simply changed the makeup of his body and had vastly increased its density while retracting it into his torso.
At a moment's notice, Shang could summon his new body again.
Shang looked frail and on the brink of death again, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Shang hadn't felt this powerful, alive, and healthy in nearly 25,000 years!
All the pain.
All the suffering.
All the tragedy.
Everything was gone!
A moment later, a white bandage appeared in Shang's hand.
He wanted to put it on but stopped after a bit.
For just a moment, he looked at the white bandage.
'When I was younger, I wore black.'
'Later, I wore white. I wanted to represent my cold and detached nature and that my life was dedicated to nothing but power.'
'That's no longer true.'
'White is so apathetic and dull.'
'My pain and suffering are gone.'
'Why run from my emotions? After all, don't emotions motivate people to better themselves?'
Shang smirked.
A moment later, the white of the bandage fell away, giving way to a bloody red.
'The world is free of suffering for me from now on, and I will commemorate this moment with a fitting new color.'
'From now on, I will wear red. This will represent the color the world will be bathed in if anyone dares to get in my way!'
Shang bound the bandage around his eye holes, and a moment later, he created a red suit made of cloth. Someone of Shang's power could create cloth out of thin air without any issues.
SHING!
Shang's limbs shot out of his torso in an instant, and he put the red suit on.
SHING!
Shang's limbs retracted again, but they kept hold of the ends of the suit, pulling the sleeves inward.
In an instant, it looked like Shang was just draped in a piece of red cloth again instead of wearing a suit.
A moment later, Shang cast a quick Spell.
It was Humanity.
'For now, I still need to hide my true self from the world.'
'I will vanish from the world, and everyone will think that I have died. Well, except Gregorio. He has proven to be trustworthy.'
Suddenly, Shang's smirk vanished, and a neutral and cold expression appeared on his face.
The new intensity and power of his Aura reverted to feel deep and dark but fragile.
And then, Shang flew back towards the Eternal Ocean to the north of the Lightning Manor.
He seemed just like always, with just one difference.
He now wore red instead of white.
Chapter 976 — Disregard
After some minutes, Shang arrived at the place where his Isolation Barrier had been just an hour ago.
Naturally, Gregorio was already waiting there.
When he saw Shang, he felt a mixture of relief and worry.
Shang was still alive, which was a good thing, but the new color of Shang's clothing also worried him.
"Shang, what happened?" Gregorio asked.
"A couple of things, Gregorio," Shang answered.
Gregorio was surprised when Shang called him by his name.
Shang had never referred to him with his name!
'Just as expected,' Gregorio thought, 'something inside of him has changed. I only hope the Shang I know is still there.'
"Can you explain?" Gregorio asked.
"The level six Concept of Entropy, Entropy itself," Shang said. "It can only be realized by becoming an Abomination."
Gregorio took a deep breath.
"Or, at least, creating a mind with 70% Entropy and 30% Mana," Shang said. "If I had an Abomination's mind, I wouldn't be talking to you. Instead, I would be running around, absorbing Mana, and exploding."
Gregorio nodded. That was true.
"I comprehended the Concept, created a new soul, and remade my body."
"I am now free of pain, Gregorio."
"I am free of suffering."
"I am free of longevity concerns."
"And, I am free of the weakness of a human body."
Gregorio didn't like what he was hearing at all.
SHING!
Gregorio's eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw Shang suddenly sprouting new arms and legs.
The cloth had transformed into a suit, and Gregorio could see Shang's bulky arms, terrifying claws, and agile legs.
Especially Shang's legs made him seem like anything but human.
They just felt so... wrong!
Shang pulled the red hood off his head, and the bandage parted ways, showing his black eyes.
When Gregorio looked into these eyes, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
Back when Shang had appeared in the Lightning Manor for the first time, Gregorio had analyzed his mind with a very advanced Spell.
Back then, Gregorio had said that Shangwas shrouded in darkness but that there was an emotional core hidden deep within his being.
Gregorio had been unsure about how to proceed with Shang. He had also said that he would look into someone's eyes in these kinds of situations.
Sadly, Shang didn't have any eyes back then.
But now, when Gregorio looked into Shang's eyes, he finally got the clarity he had wanted back then.
That emotional core might have been present back then.
But not anymore.
These black eyes spoke of nothing but unending greed and hunger for power.
No matter what was needed, Shang would sacrifice everything for power.
He would sacrifice his friends, his family, the world, his body, his soul, everything!
And after regaining everything, Shang could finally sacrifice everything again for more power!
At this moment, Gregorio's mind was going wild.
He considered whether or not he should have killed Shang back then.
If these were normal times, the answer would be a definite yes, but if they were, Gregorio would have killed him anyway.I think you should take a look at
The reason why Gregorio hadn't killed him back then had been King Sanctified Death, and that reason still held true to this day.
Without Shang, King Sanctified Death might have already killed an Emperor.
Or, maybe, he and Kali had long planned to sacrifice Adam to him.
Abaddon had no feelings of belonging or love inside of him. He wouldn't have any issues killing his father for his gain.
Kali was also emotionless, and she had wrestled her entire life with her desire to see Adam die.
And Adam was more than willing to sacrifice himself for his family.
It was very possible that Abaddon might have already killed several Emperors, in which case Gregorio would have freed the Archivist, who would have most likely killed Abaddon.
...And maybe every other Emperor as well for keeping him locked up for so long. Gregorio would already be dead.
But right now, Gregorio was still alive.
Thanks to Shang.
Even more, while Gregorio could feel nothing but greed and hunger for power in Shang's eyes, this might not actually be such a bad thing.
A beast that was greedy for power would leave the small forest after becoming too big.
Meanwhile, someone like Abaddon might never leave the forest after becoming the biggest beast.
Shang only had power in his mind.
Not revenge.
Not status.
Not rulership.
Not control.
Not domination.
He only wanted power.
And when there was no more power to be found in Aterium, he would leave.
Lastly, there was a difference between stupid greed and smart greed.
Using a tool and then destroying it after it was no longer useful was stupid since, in this case, all the other tools would see what happened, and they wouldn't want to get such an owner.
The Temple of Blood was a great example.
Shang had been their tool to gain a lot of money, but instead of getting rid of him, they just parted ways amicably.
If, for some reason, the Temple of Blood needed Shang for something again, they could have contacted him, and he would have also agreed for fitting compensation.
Shang was not stupid.
He wouldn't wantonly kill everyone that knew him or destroy Aterium before leaving.
Maybe someday, Aterium would prove to be useful again?
At least, that was Gregorio's evaluation of Shang's personality.
"Shang," Gregorio said after a while, "what do you feel for Aterium?"
Shang raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "Aterium?" he repeated with a bit of an apprehensive voice.
Gregorio was surprised by the life in Shang's words and expression.
For the entire time Gregorio had known Shang, Shang had talked like an emotionless robot.
But now, there were actual emotions in his voice and expression.
And the emotions were disregard, disgust, and apathy.
Gregorio wasn't quite sure how he should feel about this.
"I don't care about Aterium," Shang said. "Whether everyone lives or dies is irrelevant to me."
"Aterium has nothing to do with me."
Gregorio took a deep breath.
"And me?" he asked.
Chapter 977 - Control
Shang just snorted. "What's with this question?" he asked with a bit of annoyance.
"You helped me when I was weak, even though you had every incentive not to. Not helping you back would be more than idiotic."
"I have no reason to betray you, Gregorio," Shang explained.
When Gregorio heard that answer, the inside of his chest hurt.
'That was not what I meant,' Gregorio thought
Gregorio wanted to know whether or not Shang was his friend.
And yet, Shang didn't even say anything regarding that.
He only said that he had no reason to betray him.
Sure, some people would ask such a question to see whether or not someone else would betray them, but that hadn't been Gregorio's intention.
Shang was Gregorio's friend, and Gregorio just wanted to know if Shang saw it the same way.
However, even though Shang hadn't answered the question, his answer had still given Gregorio the answer he wanted. Friendship?
Shang probably didn't even consider this a real concept.
To him, friendship was probably something from a kid's fairy tale.
Gregorio wasn't sure what he should feel.
Betrayal?
Anger?
Sadness?
Yet, one thing was sure.
Gregorio was hurt.
However, Gregorio also realized that this had partially been his fault as well. After all, Shang had never seemed like someone that put a lot of value on things like friendship.
Meanwhile, Shang wasn't entirely sure why Gregorio had asked that question since he wasn't completely sure how Gregorio's mind worked.
Shang had perceived the question as a subtle test to see whether or not Shang was about to kill Gregorio, but it could also be that Gregorio was so naive that he actually asked whether or not Shang was his friend.
But out of respect, Shang expected that Gregorio wouldn't ask about something this dumb.
"Okay," Gregorio said after a bit, his Aura having calmed down. "What's your plan now?"
Shang revealed a toothy grin. "First, I will finish my swordsmanship. Then, I will become a Sword King."
Gregorio just absentmindedly nodded. He wasn't even truly thinking about what to do next.
His feelings were distracting him.
"What about the Mana?" Gregorio asked. Shang snorted when he heard the disgusting word, Mana. "That's no longer a concern. My being is made of 70% Entropy and 30% Mana. I can advance by absorbing Abominations."
The next moment, Shang released a chuckle empty of mirth.
Gregorio had never heard Shang laugh, and he felt it sounded creepy.
"This was probably what Abaddon meant," Shang said. "Why would I need any of the disgusting Mana from this world? I can just absorb the Abominations."
Now, Gregorio actually paid attention to what Shang was saying. After all, the words Shang had just spoken were more than shocking.
"You don't need any Mana anymore?" Gregorio asked in shock.
"Right," Shang said with an arrogant smirk. "I don't need the other Emperors or Kings anymore. I can just retreat to the edge of the world and consume Abominations until I become an Emperor."I think you should take a look at
"Tournament? Inheritor Sphere? Abaddon? Kali?" Shang said before laughing.
"None of that matters."
Gregorio took a deep breath. "What about the Abominations?"
"What about them?" Shang asked, not knowing what Gregorio's point was.
"When Abomination Kings suddenly appear, everyone will immediately know that you are the Child of Calamity, and even when I say that you are dead, they won't believe me."
"They will search for you throughout the entire world, and the situation will be so dire for them that the Emperors will search the world personally. They will find you."
Shang wasn't the biggest fan of what Gregorio had just said, but he had to admit that Gregorio was right.
"True," Shang answered. "What if we preemptively bury Abomination Kings across the world? That should stop new Abomination Kings from appearing."
"That won't be easy," Gregorio answered. "I have no trust amongst the Emperors. If they found one of the small cages, they would immediately open it, and the Abomination King inside would explode, revealing their existence to everyone."
"And Kali?" Shang asked.
Gregorio blinked a couple of times in surprise.
Kali?
Right, Gregorio wasn't the only person that knew of Shang's identity anymore! Kali also knew that Shang was the Child of Calamity!
"She has the trust of them," Gregorio said. "She could take care of things. Kali could just claim that she found her own way of getting rid of Abominations, and she only needed some unsupervised time in their Empires."
"However, I'm not entirely sure if I would trust her," Gregorio said. "You would need to follow her, and you would be alone with her for an extended period of time."
"If Abaddon wants you dead, that would be the opportunity for Kali to kill you."
Shang just smirked. "That won't be a problem."
Gregorio looked with surprise at Shang. "Why?"
"Well," Shang said as he moved his black arm through his black hair. "Now that I have so much of my body and soul back, I can sacrifice it again."
"If she tries to pull anything, I can detonate 40% of my soul. I won't fall into a coma, and if she manages to survive, the other Emperors will arrive."
"At that point, I only need to say what Kali was about to do and that she already knew of my status as the Child of Calamity for a long time."
"On top of that, if something happens to me, you just release the Archivist."
Shang chuckled again.
"Killing me means killing herself and her son."
"Gregorio," Shang said as he looked Gregorio in the eyes. "We are not powerless."
"Kali and Abaddon think they are the ones in control, but they're mistaken."
"We can release the Archivist, which will result in every Emperor dying."
"I can summon tens of Abomination Kings, which will result in Aterium dying."
"We can free all the already imprisoned Abominations, resulting in the same thing."
Shang turned away from Gregorio and looked toward the direction of Aterium.
"Aterium is in our hands."
"And if we so choose to, we can clench our fists!"
"If Kali doesn't want to die, she shouldn't do anything stupid."
Chapter 978 — Annoying
A bit later, Gregorio left.
There wasn't a lot he wanted to talk about with Shang.
Gregorio still needed to come to a decision about how to proceed.
Of course, Gregorio wouldn't think about betraying or killing Shang.
He was already in too deep.
Killing Shang meant making Abaddon an Emperor without anyone to rival him. Gregorio knew very well that Shang was the very reason why Kali and Abaddon were even working with him.
Of course, Gregorio would just release the Archivist, but then, Gregorio's life would be up to him, and that probably wouldn't go very well.
Killing Shang meant killing himself.
However, the world would be saved from the Abominations.
Or would it?
After all, with the death of the old Child of Calamity, a new one would appear, and the Abominations would return to only being of the first three Realms.
Sure, the death of the world would be slowed down by millions of times, but it would still move towards death.
Would there ever be a second Shang that had the power to kill God and get rid of the Abominations?
Probably not.
So, even though Gregorio felt hurt by Shang's words, there was no way for him to do anything to him.
Gregorio just had to come to terms with Shang's personality.
While Gregorio was trying to come to terms with Shang's lack of friendship and companionship, Shang traveled further to the northwest until he was just a bit away from the silver wall.
The area in front of the silver wall was absent from any life.
Living beings attracted Mana, which was why the Mana density on the continent was many, many times higher than here.
And since there was nearly no Mana here, there also were no powerful beasts in the Eternal Ocean here. Beasts needed Mana, and they would subconsciously travel to places with denser Mana.
With a lack of Mana also came a lack of Wind Mana, which meant that the air in this place didn't move at all.
There were no storms, no animals, no beasts, no plants.
There was just the calm blue water below Shang and the blue sky above him.
"This should be a good place," Shang said.
A moment later, an Abomination King appeared beside Shang.
The Abomination King wasn't isolated from the Mana, but it still didn't dare to absorb anything.
Shang's oppressive force was boundless!
The Abomination King saw Shang as its entire world, and it didn't dare to do anything that Shang didn't order.
"Destroy the silver wall," Shang commanded.
A moment later, the Abomination King shot at the silver wall and attacked it.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Yet, the wall didn't even vibrate.
Even more, the Abomination King's body became more and more injured.
The wall was just that insanely hard!
"How interesting," Shang said as he watched the Abomination King attack the wall.
Shang gestured for the Abomination King to return, and it followed Shang's command.
"Kill me without using Mana," Shang commanded.
And then, the Abomination King shot at Shang.
Its speed was ridiculously fast, and its power felt irresistible.
The Abomination King clawed at Shang with one of its arms.
WHOOOOM!
Suddenly, Shang absorbed a ton of Mana and Entropy from his internal storage by using Void Break.
At the same time, the Sword Mana inside of Shang entered his body, increasing the power of his body even more.
BOOOOOM!I think you should take a look at
The two claws met.
The Abomination King's claw was stopped!
However...
CRKSH!
Shang's arm was torn off and thrown into the horizon.
Shang sneered as he looked at his bare shoulder.
The arm had been torn off at the place where Shang's Abomination arm had met his human torso.
While Shang's Abomination arm had been powerful enough to resist the Abomination King's claw, his torso hadn't been strong enough.
'How pathetic,' Shang thought in disgust. 'The Abomination King didn't even hit my torso, and yet, my torso still failed me.'
SHING!
Shang moved back by using all hisConcepts and the incredible acceleration power of his new legs.
After all...
CSHCSHCSHCSH!
The Abomination King didn't only have a single arm.
It had six!
If Shang had remained here, he would have been turned into pieces.
Shang's arm regrew, and this time, he summoned his sword.
When Shang saw his sword, he almost had to chuckle.
One sword.
Two arms.
SHING!
Then, Shang summoned his second sword. Shang kept parrying and evading the Abomination King while he reforged his second sword to be identical to his first one.
And after a bit of time, he had succeeded.
Now, Shang was using two identical swords, which had been designed to be used with only one hand.
When the Abomination King arrived in front of Shang again, Shang only smirked.
SHING!
The speed at which Shang had just sidestepped the attack was unreal!
'These legs are amazing!' Shang thought. 'They have so much explosive power!'
Naturally, Shang also used his Concepts, his Void Break, and his Sword Focus. After all, the Abomination King was technically two levels above Shang due to the difference across Realms.
After sidestepping a couple more times, Shang attacked the Abomination King with his swords.
DING! DING!
Sadly, his swords barely made a couple of small scratches.
The Abomination King's defense was out of this world.
A moment later, Shang decided to create a Death Edge on his swords, and he attacked again.
This time, Shang left two deep crevices in the Abomination King's body.
As the Abomination King continued to attack Shang, Shang looked at his swords with dissatisfaction.
A couple of small chips had appeared on their edges.
The power of an Abomination King's body was too much for them to handle, and Shang's power had also increased.
While the Abomination King kept attacking him, Shang increased the level of his swords by two.
However, when Shang felt the weight of his new swords, he became frustrated again.
Now, Shang couldn't even properly swing them without using Sword Focus and Void Break.
As before, the problem wasn't with his arms but with his back and chest muscles.
This human torso became more and more annoying.
Chapter 979 979 Is It Over?
As Shang continued to focus on his swordsmanship, the Emperors and Kings became tenser and tenser.
They weren't completely sure when Shang was supposed to die, but it should happen within this millennium.
This meant that the Lightning Emperor would probably try something soon, which could very well end with a huge number of deaths.
The Emperors knew that Gregorio had gone all-in on Shang, and since Shang wasn't allowed to become a Sword King, he had to try something to make him one without the permission of the other Emperors
The Emperors were readying themselves for a final battle against Gregorio.
When they inevitably found out the way that Gregorio pushed Shang to become a Sword King, they would have to fight him.
Over the past millennia, the Emperors had also visited the Archivist several times.
Just because the Archivist was bound to his island didn't mean that no one could Visit him.
The Emperors were already trying to gain some favor with the Archivist. After all, when they fought Gregorio for the final time, Gregorio would most likely free the Archivist.
At that point, their lives would be in the Archivist's hands.
Yet, after the 20th visit or so, the Archivist grew annoyed.
"Do not foolishly believe that my senses are as bound as my body," he said with a warning tone. "I have seen and heard the truth. I am only a political bargaining chip. None of you truly want to see me freed. At least show some respect and don't talk to me like I am a naive child. I'm older than all of you combined."
The Emperors felt awkward but also nervous.
Some of them actually got the courage to ask the Archivist what he would do when he was freed.
The Archivist only said one thing.
"That's none of your concern."
This only managed to increase the Emperors' anxiety.
Because of all these things, the Emperors and Kings were extremely nervous.
They had to fight Gregorio when he inevitably helped Shang to advance!
Otherwise, Shang might become so powerful that all of them would die!
Certain death.
Probable death.
These were the only options.
No matter what happened, the chances of death were extremely high for everyone.
These were the longest thousand years for the Emperors.
Every day, they asked their Kings about the Beast Kings and whether or not one was missing.
Of course, the Mage Kings were just as nervous. If their Emperors died, they would very likely also die.
Ironically, the weaker someone was, the higher their chance of survival was.
Ancestral Mages?
Why would Shang or Gregorio care about that? Ancestral Mages barely had any Mana.
Why would the Archivist care about them? They had no power to help him.
The only true danger was if King Sanctified Death won, but that was a piece of information that these weak Mages weren't powerful enough to learn.
So, while the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors felt terror, the Mage Lords only felt a bit of pressure, and the Ancestral Mages barely felt anything that was different from normal.
As the years passed, the Emperors kept demanding more stringent measures of checking the population of Mage Lords, Beast Lords, and Beast Kings.
By now, there was a delegation from every Empire sitting on every single beast island, just watching it.
Nothing was happening.
Additionally, all the Mage Kings were required to check in with the Empires regularly to make sure that none of them were secretly sacrificed for Shang.
There were people fully focusing on nothing but measuring the density of Mana all across the continent to make sure that it didn't drop.
The Mana density was slightly higher than usual, but that was normal.
Sometimes, beasts fought in great battles and just died.
Additionally, the Empires weren't concerned with the Mana density rising but dropping.I think you should take a look at
How could someone become more powerful and also raise the Mana density of the world?
That made no sense.
Eventually, 1,000 years passed since Shang had transformed.
The Emperors watched with almost bloodshot eyes at every part of the world.
Gregorio had to do something!
Now was the time!
And then, another 100 years passed.
Nothing was happening.
Another century.
Nothing happened.
Another century.
Nothing happened.
By now, the Emperors almost dared to relax, but they were still careful.
Many of them started to talk to Gregorio in an effort to find out what was going on.
Obviously, Gregorio was very cold and curt towards them.
However, he also said some sentences that evoked a very contrasting mix of emotions in the other Emperors.
"You won," Gregorio said coldly. "I allowed Shang to become this powerful so that he might kill Abaddon in the future. We all know what he plans, and we all know what is going to happen."
"Yet, instead of just letting them fight and kill each other, you were hellbent on supporting Abaddon and stopping Shang."
"When Abaddon inevitably becomes a Mage Emperor, I hope you are all ready to die."
"Because I'm not going to free the Archivist, and I'm not going to help you against him."
"You all decided to doom us."
"And now, you will reap what you have sown."
These words evoked many emotions.
Hope: So, Shang was actually dead?
Dread: What if Gregorio was right, and Abaddon actually wanted to kill everyone?
Shock: Wait, Gregorio was willing to just die?!
The Emperors were so relieved that Shang was finally dead, but for some reason, that relief almost felt pointless.
It was like killing Shang had achieved nothing.
As the Emperors saw one danger vanishing into nothingness, they couldn't help looking at another danger becoming more prominent.
Abaddon.
Now, there was no more doubt.
Abaddon would win the tournament.
While Shang had been alive, the Emperors had been able to focus on him and ignore Abaddon.
But now, there was no running away anymore.
They had to deal with Abaddon.
The closer the tournament came, the more they felt like Abaddon might truly represent the end of the world.
In the past, they had decided to bet on Abaddon.
And now, their bet had paid off.
But they weren't sure what they should feel about that.
Chapter 980 980 - The Right Thing
Eventually, the world fell back into something that some people might call peace.
Even though Shang was dead, Gregorio was still a massive threat since he could free the Archivist.
So, no one wanted to push Gregorio too far.
For now, it was best to keep things calm and wait until the fateful day.
The war essentially stopped, except for a couple of minor conflicts between some Empires.
The population of Mage Lords started to recover.
No one attacked the Lightning Manor anymore, and the Lightning Manor also didn't expand further than their original borders.
The war was over.
Well, officially, the war was still going on, but nobody was actually fighting.
"You seem quite calm, sir," Wester said as he brought some tea to Gregorio.
Gregorio was reading a couple of books with quite a lot of speed. All of these books were related to Abominations and ways to stop them.
Wester had noticed that Gregorio was reading these kinds of books all the time while also writing several.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be anything strange. After all, that was what Gregorio was doing most of the time.
But these were not normal circumstances.
Shang was dead, and Abaddon was bound to become a Mage Emperor in 24,000 years.
Wester thought that Gregorio would seem more gloomy or pressured.
Yet, he didn't seem different than any other time.
Gregorio raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at Wester. "Do I really look calm?" he asked.
"You do, sir," Wester said. "Frighteningly so."
Gregorio just chuckled a bit and looked back at the book without answering.
Wester just raised an eyebrow at Gregorio.
"Wester, what do you think of Aterium?"
A slightly surprised expression appeared on Wester's face. "That's an odd question."
Wester fell into thought for a bit. "I would call it my home."
"What makes it your home?" Gregorio asked.
Wester put the tea to the side and thought about his answer carefully.
He hadn't truly thought about these things.
Wester's Spirit Sense stretched outward and encompassed a big portion of the Lightning Manor's lands.
He could see children playing, parents talking, criminals committing crimes, Mages fighting, warriors training, beasts patrolling, and all other facets of life.
"The variety and beauty of life," Wester answered.
"Interesting," Gregorio said as he continued reading his book. "You know, I also asked a couple of the others."
"And their answers?" Wester asked.
"One of them said the people."
"Another one said because this is where they had been living for their entire life."
"One of them even said she didn't know."
"Was that Emilia?" Wester asked.
Gregorio chuckled. "Yes, it was Emilia."
"The point is, we all View Aterium as our home, but we all view it as our home for different reasons," Gregorio said as he looked away from the book, his Spirit Sense encompassing the Lightning Manor's lands.
"You know what Abaddon is most likely planning."
"Yet, have you noticed that if Abaddon succeeds, not everyone will lose their home?"
"He plans to destroy the world, but he will also recreate it, and it is even possible that the variety of life will even increase. Additionally, he will very likely also create humans again."
Gregorio looked at Wester. "If Abaddon succeeds, would you lose your home?"
Wester looked with concern at Gregorio. "Have you given up, sir?"
Gregorio just sighed. "I've accepted the truth, Wester," he said as he looked at this Empire with melancholy in his eyes. "All the others wanted to kill and stop Shang, and they have succeeded."
"All of them know what Abaddon has planned. And yet, they still support him."
"Linastra and I are the only two that didn't completely follow them."
Gregorio looked back at Wester. "Is it so wrong to give them what they wanted?"
"Sir, I wouldn't have thought that you had such a sense of humor," Wester said with a chuckle.
Gregorio didn't say anything.
"Give them what they want?" Wester repeated. "Let the entire world be destroyed and remade?"
Wester politely chuckled again.
"That doesn't sound like something an ancient Emperor would do. That sounds more like a teenager throwing a fit."
"Morality is subjective, and yet, there are things that nearly everyone can agree are wrong. I would say destroying the world is among these things. Something like that is as close to being objectively morally wrong as it can get."I think you should take a look at
"Saying that you are fine with destroying the world because one of your plans didn't work doesn't sound like something the eternal Emperor over quintillions of people would say."
Silence.
"Don't you think we have a duty?" Wester asked. "Don't you think, as the most powerful people, we have a duty to this world?"
"This world gave us a chance to reach our current power. I believe the least we could do is to not destroy it in return."
Wester chuckled again. "But you already knew that. After all, you were only joking."
Silence.
Gregorio looked at his Empire with a lost expression.
At that moment, the image of the red-cloaked Shang appeared in his mind.
That toothy grin.
It was filled with confidence and disregard but also rage and hatred.
Gregorio had been surprised about Shang's change, but after thinking about it for a while, he realized that it actually made sense.
Shang had been under unimaginable pressure and pain for his entire life. Shutting off his emotions and becoming an unfeeling ghost had been the only option to survive in this condition.
And after finally being freed of this torment, the repressed emotions came back out, stronger than ever.
Lastly, the composition of Shang's mind had changed drastically.
Gregorio knew that Shang's values and personality had been strongly influenced by that change.
Shang had attained freedom.
Sadly, Shang had long forgotten how to be happy.
So, Shang celebrated his rebirth the only way he could.
By becoming even more powerful and pledging even more dedication and sacrifice to his cause.
He was somebody that happily cut out their organs to sell them for money.
"Protecting the world is the right thing," Gregorio repeated absentmindedly.
"It is," Wester answered.
Gregorio didn't say anything.
Meanwhile, many kilometers to the northwest, several long and dark shadows stretched upwards.
They were long, thin, and imposing.
Suddenly, the shadows vanished, and black blood exploded outward.
A moment later, the pieces of an Abomination King fell downward.
And only a sinister laugh could be heard.